Singing in the Key of Christ Alone
For a few weeks in these pastoral letters, we’re looking at the topic of life together in the church, and we’re focusing on some of the “one another” passages in Scripture. Last week, I introduced this series by saying that it’s only when the church learns to put these “one anothers” into practice that the church acts like the church.
This week, I would like to think about how we handle conflict with one another by looking at Paul’s words in Romans 15:5-6, where he instructs us to live in harmony with one another: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Harmony in An Age of Discord
The last four years in America have been among the most conflict-laden and divided times since the Civil War. Political polarization, Covid-craziness, and a general sense of hostility and suspicion have influenced nearly all of American life. Churches have not been immune to the conflict: congregations have been depleted, many ministers have left the ministry, and the church has failed to really act like the church.
This brings up a fascinating question: Should the church be immune to such conflict? At first blush, we might say yes, especially in light of Paul’s words in Romans 15:5-6, that we are to “live in…harmony with one another.” However, could it be that God’s design for the church is not to be immune to conflict, but rather that we learn to love one another even through conflict together as a church family?
Think of it this way: What is it that brings the church together? Is it that we all share the same political views? Our commitment to a certain type of education for our children? Our unanimous agreement surrounding controversial issues like vaccinations, birth control, or a particular style of worship?
No, these things aren’t what bring the church together; indeed, they must not be what brings the church together. There is but one unifying factor in the Church: Christ alone! The basis of harmony at First Scots is that each of us professes Jesus alone to be the Lord and Savior of sinners.
This also means that, because we’re gathered around this one central Truth, there will be areas of disagreement upon secondary issues. That’s not a weakness of the church; it’s actually a strength! God is calling people together from different backgrounds and viewpoints into one family- or to borrow Paul’s imagery here, into a choir- and we’re to all sing in harmony with one voice.
In order to do this, we all have to learn to sing in the same key: Christ alone. It cannot be Christ + republican or democratic politics. Christ + homeschool or Christian school or public. Christ + vaccines or anti-vaccines. These positions may be valid and beneficial in their own right, but they must all take a backseat in a church that is truly committed to being a body of people united in Christ alone.
This is not to say that there aren’t non-negotiable issues within the church: abortion and same-sex marriage would fall into that category because the Scriptures speak with incontrovertible clarity of these things. Churches cannot accept these issues and remain committed to Christ alone.
But the reality is that most issues are not as black and white as we might like, and much of life falls between the commandments. Many of the things we may personally be passionate about are matters of preference and opinion rather than biblical clarity.
The Gospel at Work
The 21st century church in America is not the first to experience such potential for conflict. Just think about life in the New Testament church: differences and disagreements abounded, perhaps even more than today. Jews and gentiles had long had deep-seated racial animosity, and now they found themselves worshiping together. Slave and free worshipped alongside one another. Some had very tender consciences about moral issues such as eating meat sacrificed to idols while others felt no such constraints.
What’s interesting is that the New Testament typically doesn’t explicitly address who’s right and who’s wrong in these differences. The emphasis of the New Testament is how to maintain harmony despite differences. This is reflective of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:23, “…that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
For the early Church, these areas of potential strife were transformed into opportunities for the glory of God to be seen. Jews and Gentiles called one another “brother.” Rich and poor shared meals together. When we value Christ above all else, then our primary commitment is no longer to our personal preferences, but to the preeminence of the Gospel.
JI Packer speaks with great wisdom:
“Whatever cultural shifts take place around us, whatever socio-political concerns claim our attention, whatever anxieties we may feel about the church as an institution, Jesus Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and now in the power of His atonement, calling, drawing, welcoming, pardoning, renewing, strengthening, preserving, and bringing joy, remains the heart of the Christian message, the focus of Christian worship, and the fountain of Christian life. Other things may change; this does not” (J. I. Packer, “Jesus Christ, the Only Savior,” Collected Shorter Writings 1.46).
This doesn’t mean we must become indifferent about homeschooling, politics, etc., but such passion must be both eclipsed and reformed by the all-consuming passion of knowing Christ. When knowing and glorifying Christ is our utmost desire, it allows us to hold secondary positions with humility, understanding that dear brothers and sisters have reached different conclusions about these things. But when we do not cherish Christ above all else, then these secondary issues will rise to the level of primary, and they will inevitably disrupt the peace and purity of the church.
Our world, for all its supposed tolerance, is stunningly intolerant of disagreement. That’s not entirely surprising; in the expressive individualism of our day, we take ourselves so seriously that anyone who doesn’t affirm us and our every inclination must be villainized. But what happens when we take Christ more seriously than we take ourselves? Harmony arises. We begin to sing with one voice in the church. Rather than churches dividing over secondary issues, we seek to be peacemakers, finding unity in Christ. What a picture of the Gospel at work!
After all, if we aren’t willing to be reconciled to one another within the church, why would the world believe us when we say they can be reconciled to God?
